Dulcet

The Star's Dreams: A Gathering of Interesting Individuals

@shylarah
I'm glad to see you have ideas already!

I've actually heard of Fallen London! I currently only know of it from Sunless Sea; I've yet to delve into the browser game.

The Star's Dreams: A gathering of individuals for excitation and pleasure.

@WanderBug@shylarah@PentagonWhite@Howler@Brithwyr

The Host's Invitations have been dispatched.

OOC is up! I hope to see everyone participate. Applications will be open for a while; we'll see when the time is right to start.

The Star's Dreams: A Gathering of Interesting Individuals

The Star's Dreams

A Night to define a lifetime

---

Nobody knows how or why she does it. Tales spread from world to world on the lips of mischievous storytellers, and from there local bards took the mantle and plied the tale to ravenous ears. In many worlds, the tale fizzled out and died—none of its inhabitants ever expanding the story or being selected. In a few select worlds, the story lives on. On the smallest collection of choice worlds, her eyes settle.

Sometimes the invitation comes in the night; a letter or note left on a nightstand, or perhaps it is folded neatly over the recipient’s chest. Other times, the invitation is more aggressive—coming in the heat of battle, or during a particularly trying night after a fight with a loved one. No matter the manner it’s delivered, the invitation’s content is always the same.

A Cordial Invitation,
To whom I have expressed interest.
Should you reciprocate, and are prepared to give your time to satiate my desire,
I invite you to my home for supper and pleasantries.

Introductions and my statement will begin the night.
Dinner begins at 8’oclock
Entertainment in most rooms will begin at 9.
My departing statement will take place at 3 AM.
Guests should vacate the premise by 4.

To accept this invitation, simply place underfoot and tarnish the seal.
If unable to do so, hold the invitation to your chest and tear it.

I anxiously await an affirmative reply,

-A Lonesome Star

Those that receive the invitation begin to have strange dreams—nightmares, to some—of a lonesome woman in gold. She beckons to them as they sleep; occupying their dreams for as long at the invitation stands. It is no secret that she’s driven some to madness with her call. In their dreams, the invitees see the moment they accept the invitation. They see the world of wonder that she lives in. They walk down the grand hallway to her abode. They see her atop a fountain surrounded by thousands of silver chimes. She extends their hand to them, and while they can never exactly remember what she says, her final invitation is always clear.

"A story waits for you beyond my doors," she says.
"It would be a shame to let it go."

---

|Overview|

A warm welcome to The Star's Dreams. With few defined rules and an opulent setting overseen by an age-old celestial being, guests are encouraged to interact with each other and their surroundings to their heart's content. At the top of the hour every night, the host will introduce something new for the guests to marvel at, or will change something in the house to stimulate action. She can be a fickle woman, but generally her changes are pleasant. At the desire and preparation of the guests, however, she can introduce... less-than-pleasant scenarios. Worry not--death in her home is simply one way of leaving.

The Star's Dreams is wholly focused on the players. While the host may take some actions herself, she will simply observe them, for the most part. NPCs may come and go as the players interact with their surroundings, but will also generally keep to themselves. Guests may call on the host to reveal things to them, or point them in the right direction. Despite this, should someone interact with the host in particular, she will happily engage them.

By the end of the night, the host hopes that the guests have enjoyed themselves, and have left her intriguing stories in return. There has never been a case of a second invitation, but perhaps another interesting story will arise and draw her attention once more.

---

|A Note on the Host|

While the intent is that existing characters in the midst of their own tall tales and actions, there are a few things that increase a person's chances of getting an invitation from the Host despite not having a tale to tell _{as in they're tailor-made for this RP}. She is particularly fond of long-standing romances a-la-childhood friends, incredibly fond of forbidden romances, and absolutely enamoured by tragic romances--it's not at all far-fetched for her to send an invitation promptly after the death of one's true love.

Aside from that, the Host seeks out romantic stories in the sense of heroes prevailing against all odds, Pyhrric victories, and beautiful visions of tomorrow. Those that lead the charge into battle and those that lead a kingdom into prosperity alike may find themselves invited. That is not to say that those of low birth and unremarkable lives aren't invited--sometimes she will take interest in the life of an unremarkable person to see how they fare standing amongst living legends.

---

The Home of a Star

The building itself is meant to be explored, but after arrival all guests will be given a general map. As the layout of the building changes at the Host's desires, only a list of the rooms is presented. Rooms may also change, but the following are almost guaranteed to exist.

A List of Rooms

• Entry Hall: Always present; is the fixed location all others are based on.
• Cedar Commons: Always present; fixed at the end of the Entry Hall.
• Dining Hall: Always present; fixed at the opposite end of the Cedar Commons from the Entry Hall.
• The Host's Chambers: Always present, though its position will meander throughout the night.
• Guests' Chambers: Present when needed; will be affixed to the Cedar Commons if summoned.
• The Hall of Stories: Often present.
• World-in-A-Room: Often present; contents may vary.
• The Study: Often present; may also take the form of the Library. Contents vary.
• The Garden of Stars: Often present.
• The Observatory: Often Present--if the Garden of Stars is also present, the Observatory is situated at its center.
• The Site of A Tragedy: Sometimes present
• Memory Lane: Sometimes Present
• An Abyss: Sometimes Present
• The Heart's Repose: Often present, but typically concealed.
• A Chance Meeting Ground: Present when circumstances are too tempting to pass up. May only appear to certain guests.

---

The Rules

OOC Rules

Not much to see here; just the normal stuff.

For the love of all that is good, please treat each other and myself with respect. I'm not expecting you to fellate me at all times because I'm the GM either, but at the very least you shouldn't be immediately attacking other people for making a mistake or--heaven forbid--making an error in their writing. That said, if someone points out an error, it would be nice if you'd edit your post for future reading.

If there's any sort of fight or disagreement, run it by me. I'd like to avoid dealing in absolutes, but when it comes to many aspects of how this will play out, I have the final say.

IC Rules

These rules are typical of the guild; I don't expect there to be a need for godmodding or anything of the sort, but please remember that other people exist. I do not want any cases of people suddenly teleporting behind people or anything, and doing that and adding something along the lines of, "Pssh... nothing personnel... kid," is grounds for a toxic and immediate ejection from the RP and banning from my future RPs _{not really; that was a joke.} Please avoid it anyways.

Mature content is allowed--that means you can swear, you can drink, you can inject one whole marijuana and disprove reefer madness (or prove them right somehow), and the beginnings of sex are OK. If you want to go any further than shutting the door and getting that mushy stuff (the foreplay foreplay) out of the way, unfortunately I'll have to tell you to take it to PMing ("unfortunate" being relative _{I know there are degenerates out there that love hard-core RP hand-holding and consensual cuddling})

Post quality is incredibly important. As per what I said on the interest check, "The minimum I set is at least two paragraphs, as per usual, but please aim to have longer, or narrative-rich posts as well. Narrative-rich means not simply including every single bit of detail in an attempt to make up for lack of quality with sheer volume, but instead crafting your work so that the most impact and important information is conveyed. I have recently listened to a book that would have been wonderful, if not for the clumsy application of detail, and I am not looking for anything like that."

Similar to some other RPs, given the nature of the building, it would be helpful if you had a small note regarding your location at the beginning of your posts.

A Note on the Posting Requirements:

As it stands, I aim to make this a faster-paced, shorter RP. To facilitate that, the RP will be broken into segments ("hours," loosely.) Within each segment, I hope that players will at least make one post describing what they intend to do. Technically there is no limit to what you can do within that hour, but to move things along and have the Host introduce new elements, we will advance into a new "hour" when:

• All players 'declare' in their post that they are done taking actions for the hour.
  or
• All players have made at least one post and I move the clock ahead. I won't do this often; maybe I'll do it after around a week of posting. This will be mentioned in OOC. After the announcement, you have 3 days (negotiable) before the clock moves ahead.
  or
• Some players have made at least one post, but one player is inactive even after I announce that time will soon advance. At that point, they're considered either drunk or otherwise predisposed, and time will move on. If this happens twice in a row, we'll roll dice in OOC and see what to do to the person.

I write this in a really laid-back manner to show that I'm fairly relaxed most of the time, but I'll come down harder on rule-breakers in return. Let's not let it get that far, okay?

---

On Character Creation

This is an advanced roleplay, and a character-centric one at that. Applications are required. I'm hoping at least one person uses a character otherwise engaged in another RP and manages to write this experience into their character (ask your GM first!) but that's just a gimmick. You can use that character's CS, but make sure to retool it to the one that I lay out.

This is incredibly important:

DO NOT USE A CHARACTER THAT HAS SEVERE ILLNESSES--MENTAL OR OTHERWISE--OR DISABILITIES UNLESS YOU CAN ROLEPLAY IT WELL

I say this because, for quality's sake, and from the perspective of the RP, I want to end up with some engaging stories. The caveat to this is if you contact me beforehand that your character is going to fake either of the above--I say that, but make sure to GIVE IT A GOOD REASON. Bonus points if they're doing it to run from a marriage or something; just make it interesting and at least plausible. It's fine if your character just happens to have a cold or something, but please note that the Host has the capability of temporarily "curing" it during your stay_{she may leave it if she thinks it'll make for an interesting plot device}

Characters will retain any abilities that they have in their world. If you're a wizard in your world of magic, you can use that magic, or if your character is some sort of John Carter analogue they can have superhuman strength. Characters from different worlds, however, cannot use their special abilities on each other; the wizard's fireballs won't do anything to John Carter, and John Carter would have to put in the same amount of effort to lift the wizard that a person of similar physical muscle mass would have to. However, physical objects inside the Host's world are affected by all special abilities, and retain any energy put into them. If the wizard can levitate a piano, set it on fire, and toss it at John Carter, John Carter would have to throw it back or dodge. Issues that come up from different-but-similar worlds will have to be taken care of OOC (e.g. can your wizard that uses mana drain mana from the wizard from a world without it to stop their spells?)

Character Sheet Template

Name:

*Gender: *Not necessary to fill out, for interest's sake. Just know that the Host will pick and choose pronouns based on your appearance_{and may choose to ignore any complaints}

*Age:

Appearance: Be vivid. If you'd like to include one, photos of any style are allowed.

Bio: Doesn't need to be a full life story, but there's a reason you've been invited, so be detailed. Make sure to include interesting tidbits and such. Give enough for the Host to have as much information as a new friend. I'm hoping for some racy details!

Abilities / Type of Abilities: "Magic," "Biological Feat," "Divine Gift," etc.

Equipment / Clothing: Let us know what you've got coming into the party. You can bring your axe, and odds are you won't be asked to hand it over unless you do something stupid to the Host and her belongings. You don't need to mention things that aren't immediately visible, but send me a PM, and be fair if someone is looking you over (best to handle it OOC and then write the staring in afterwards)

What you were doing before you came:

Other:

---

As it stands I think this is everything I needed to mention for this post, though if some more information comes up later I'll make sure to post it here. I'm looking for around at least 6 players, though more would always be welcome before we start (maybe even after!), and I can work with less. I understand that it might be a busy time for some people, so we may start a little later; it depends on everyone's needs.

Questions from a new GM

As it stands, I have a vague idea of how to GM; some best practices and the like would be greatly appreciated, but aren't the subject of my questions today (I feel that my basic knowledge should suffice, and that the learning experience I go through will help shape my style into something unique). Instead, I'd like to know some of the formatting styles and habits that GMs here have.

In particular, at the moment I feel that it might seem "cheap" to reuse text from an interest check in an RP's OOC. For once I can read over my work and I don't immediately retch at the sight of it (does anyone else read their work over and feel as if someone else wrote it [and immediately feel repulsed]?) I'd even say I'm proud of it. However, as much as I like it, I've been looking around and I've gotten the feeling that it's also not really necessary in the OOC. For an interest check, I've got the feeling that having some flamboyant show of story and style works, but an OOC should be closer to the point.

What do you think?

The Star's Dreams: A gathering of individuals for excitation and pleasure.

It seems as though there are enough people, so I'll start work on an OOC; I'll have it done sometime during the week. Still working out a few things, and if anyone has any questions before we begin I'll have time to answer them. Hopefully a few more people get interested in that time as well.

The Star's Dreams: A gathering of individuals for excitation and pleasure.

@shylarah
Yes, anything goes in terms of characters; even if they can't normally coexist. Just as an example; if you want to get two characters that are the two sides of one character to run around, that's fine.

As for posting, it's the latter. The 'hours' are just ways to add some structure to the RP. During the hours you'll be able to do whatever you like, and when I say 'declaring' at the end of the hour, I mean that in a sense where you're essentially saying you're done for that block of time, and would like the general story to progress.

The Last March of the Living

@Sypherkhode822 That sounds like a non-stop suffering train, since they'd have very little reason to help us. Hope I didn't buy the wrong tickets

The Star's Dreams: A gathering of individuals for excitation and pleasure.

The Star's Dreams:

Tales as fleeting as they are memorable.

The light around you dims.

Energy fills the air.

The Earth trembles in excitement—or is it fear?

Everything seems to bleed together, and everything leads to this moment. A line of light bisects the air in front of you; just barely visible. Then comes the world’s sharp intake of breath, which draws the air back behind you, and cool air seeps out from the line. The cool air surrounds you, and in its embrace, you cannot help but feel something… examining you. The line seems to pulse for a moment, and then vanishes.

Rest assured, it was not simply a trick of the light.

Tendrils of starlight dance out from beneath your feet; thin, wispy things like threads of silk. They creep around you, and they draw roots around you until they reach a short distance away from your body, where they sharply turn towards each other and form a solid white circle. When no gaps remain, all light disappears, and you are plunged into the depths of darkness.

You float in what gentle repose the universe can offer you, surrounded by a canopy of stars and nebulae—all perceptible to your eyes through unseen magics. Fables chase each other around the constellations and celestial bodies, laughing, and sometimes crying. Lovers hang high in the sky “above” you, gifting each other with soft kisses and stolen touches while two angry suns observe other matters. When the suns shift their gazes, the lovers part and fade into the stars. As the suns are distracted, they come alive again—and on and on the cycle goes.

Ahead, you see tales of valour buried in blue and green gems—an innumerable plethora of life-bearing planets. They stick out like beacons from the planet’s surface, enticing star-faring storytellers to descend from their lofty perches, so that they may indulge in their riveting escapades. Some pass you now, and you cannot discern if they are man, or beast, or if they are simply a presence with no shape to assure you that they truly exist.

One catches your gaze, and its form shifts to emulate your kind’s. The sweetest smile graces its lips, and then it is gone. You see a faint line, distinct from the rest of the universe, showing the path it took away from you. It has already touched an infinite number of stories, and in the distance bright lights salute you as your doppelganger meets them.

This wonder is not the main attraction, however. It is simply a waiting area, and an ornate hallway crumbles back into existence. Soft baroque tones and the irresistible scent of spices and sweets pad at your ears and nostrils like small fairies trying to lead you away. The distant sound of flowing water is accompanied by hundreds of twinkling chimes—none of them the same tone; all of them beautiful. The hallway is complete, and the universe fades away. When you look back, it as if the hall stretches for eternity in the other direction with nothing to call to you. The only proper direction is forwards.

Your legs seem to develop a mind of their own, and as soon as weight settles back into your bones, you are walking, marveling at the splendor of your surroundings. Both ancient and modern works of art line the walls. Sculptures shape themselves, and painters trapped in paintings stare intensely at you with their palettes in one hand and their brushes in the other. As you pass, it is as if they have a sudden realization, and the paintings capture their moment of clarity. They do not know it, but they have witnessed you and the hallway, and work towards immortalizing the scene on canvas.

The end of the hallway is in sight, and its golden arches break away into a large, spacious room with no discernable ceiling or far wall. In what you deem the “center” of the room is the fountain that you heard from before. The hundreds of chimes prove to number in the thousands; each of them suspended in the air around the fountain. They float lazily around it, and through the cloud of silver, you see a small figure sitting on a platform where the water spills out.

A soft tone reverberates from within the cloud of chimes, and they part so that the occupant within can look at you. She is a young woman with black silk locks and supple peach skin, dressed in a striking gold top that flows down her body, splashed with tinges of violet and white, and a long, flowing, shimmering silver skirt cut, embroidered, and gilded on one side. She sits cross-legged with a curled smile on her face.

“Welcome,” she chimes. Her lilting voice dances around your left ear, and then your right, sending shivers down your spine. “I am always, always delighted to see new faces. I do hope my home is already as impressive to you as I hoped it would be.”

She curls around, and moves to sit on her knees. She bows at you, and the fountain parts beneath her. The scents and sounds you heard from earlier crescendo in a wave of sheer nostalgia and anticipation, and the woman smiles at you once again. She turns again after her bow, and her legs dangle from her platform to obscure the path that appeared.

“My name is Bianca,” she pauses and opens her arms, “…and I cordially invite you into my home.”

The fountain rumbles, and the path sinks into it. Stonework stairs grind against each other as they assume positions down into the depths, where the gentlest gaslight shines at you in the distance.

“Should you choose to honour my invitation, you may proceed,” she states, and she tumbles down from her platform and lands playfully on her feet in front of you. “Of course, there is no requirement that you do so. Should you decline, you will awaken where you were before, as if this was a dream. Cliché, but it is the best course of action.”

Your eyes meet, and her eyes are stunning. You see the universe reflected in them; the same breathtaking canopy from before, over pastel tones of the nebulae. You break out of your stupor, and see that she has extended a delicate hand to you.

"A story waits for you beyond my doors," she says. "It would be a shame to let it go."

---

“The Star’s Dreams”—alternately, “Les rêves de l'étoile," because I adore the way French sounds for fruity titles (even if machine-translated)—is envisioned to be a briskly-paced, short-term RP centered around the home of a lonely woman—a star by the name “Bianca.” Here, she sends invitations to individuals of all persuasions and walks of life, so that she may have company in a one-night exchange of stories, and the writing of new ones. Initially, her invitation if for six. In the future, this may change.

It is my intent that the RP be broken into six “hours,” during which the visitors may do as they please. An hour will pass once all guests have declared they have completed their actions for that hour, when all the guests have made their actions and determined their upcoming actions for the hour, or three (3) real-world days pass after the most recent submission. The “hours” aren’t straight 60 minutes; just consider them a block of time, each with a post from myself to lead with. Of course, that is subject to change. Should a guest fail to report their actions for an hour, they will be considered too drunk or otherwise preoccupied, and the world will go on. Please do inform me if you are dropping out, or if a post will take longer than anticipated. Once the six hours are up, the night will move into its final act; after which the guests will depart.

Characters may come from anywhere; the invitation comes anytime, anywhere. They may be the greatest good, or the greatest evil—there is no distinction nor limit when it comes to the invited. Everything is permitted, though as per standing rules, mature to explicit details may only be ‘declared’ and not acted out—they must be saved for PMs. Death is a present factor, but worry not—if your character is killed, they will return to their state before they entered. Intrigue is allowed. Combat is allowed. Romance is allowed—even encouraged, for those seeking it.

I will try to keep posting standards high; low-quality posts can disrupt the atmosphere I hope we can create, but things sometimes slip through the cracks. The minimum I set is at least two paragraphs, as per usual, but please aim to have longer, or narrative-rich posts as well. Narrative-rich means not simply including every single bit of detail in an attempt to make up for lack of quality with sheer volume, but instead crafting your work so that the most impact and important information is conveyed. I have recently listened to a book that would have been wonderful, if not for the clumsy application of detail, and I am not looking for anything like that. I’m probably guilty of going over-the-top at times as well, so please, do call me out in OOC if you feel my work is bordering on or has broached becoming superfluous. Learning is important.

Let this be a standing warning—indecency, immaturity, pettiness, and the like are highly frowned upon, and if severe enough, are grounds for immediate ejection.

I am a new RPer, but I am not new to writing, so do forgive me for any missteps I make in regard to GMing. Having had a taste of RPing, I feel a strong urge to lead my own already, and this will be the first test that I put out for myself. I would hope RPers of all levels of veterancy partake, for a balanced and enlightening experience. Even if you’re not interested, advice is always gladly accepted. I have no idea what’s exactly supposed to be listed when enticing people to join, so having some formatting tips would be greatly appreciated (if it’s not already clear from the above OOC, I tend to meander when I don’t have direction)

A CS is upcoming; I just wanted to get this out before I iron out all the details (because I’m fully aware I may be missing some aspect that would be prudent to include.)

The Last March of the Living

Went ahead and posted; figured that because Aliya's still not in the group proper it would be good to move her ahead a little bit to where everyone can choose what to do with her.

The Last March of the Living

Aliya’s muscles ached by the time she got the first glimpse of the village—though it was more a clearing on the village’s edge rather than any buildings to speak of. Despite many trees being neatly manicured and pollarded, they were still a bit too thick for her to see through properly. She ignored that and redoubled her efforts. She stood straighter, and she hoisted Madeline up further. Had her companion been anyone else, she probably would have just let them stumble along behind her. Aliya thought that it would have been kinder to herself if she had just done that with Madeline as well.

It may have been her mind playing tricks on her, but she felt as if Madeline was growing colder. Her breathing had certainly gotten more ragged, and Aliya could see the struggle she went through to keep her eyes focused. Every now and again they would glass over, and heat would rise in Aliya’s chest. Whenever she saw it, she’d push herself harder and carry Madeline more. At first she had been supporting Madeline. Now, Madeline’s feet nearly left the ground.

“Madeline? You still with me?” Aliya grunted. When Madeline didn’t immediately reply, Aliya rubbed their cheeks together. It was faster than having to move her hand.

Madeline perked up at that, but then she swooned and relaxed. “I’m still with you, Captain… Good to see that you’re still with me...”

Aliya didn’t reply; in fear that if she did, Madeline would keep wasting what precious energy she had left on replying. Instead, she sped them up as they broke into the outskirts proper, where the pollarded trees formed neat rows and slowly transitioned into coppiced ones.

That lasted for a short while until Aliya stepped out into a long open field separating the village from the trees. She hoped that someone would notice her and Madeline.

As the two of them started their walk, Madeline seemed to slowly come back to her senses. Her head tilted upwards slightly, and Aliya felt her tense.

“Something the matt-“

“Archer… looks like an elf…” Madeline breathed.

Aliya tried to follow Madeline’s gaze, and looked at the top of what looked like a watch tower. True enough, a lightly-armoured tree of a man hung over its side, and he seemed to be calling down to someone. Aliya didn’t like that he was holding his weapon.

She turned to Madeline. “What do you think?”

“Look… down… there’s a bunch of soldiers,” Madeline replied weakly.

It was a wonder Aliya had missed them. A large group of them seemed to be working at moving the merchants’ stalls to barricade the village, and Aliya paled. She noted that not a single villager was present among them, and she began to draw conclusions.

“Wait… That gear... They look like the bloody Glamhoth, don’t they?” she breathed lowly. Madeline nodded against her shoulder. “Most of them look like regulars, but there are a bunch of others with them. That must mean…”

“Raiders,” Madeline said firmly. Aliya’s legs nearly gave out.

Aliya watched as the archer that was in the tower disappeared; probably running down to report that he had seen someone.

“Of all the bloody times for those damned savages to go and raid a village, now was when they chose to do it?” she said despairingly. “We need to turn around. How’s your bleeding?”

“Not too… too bad. It’s slowed down for the most part; thanks to you.”

“You think you’ll last if we head back into the forest and just get a place for you to rest?” Aliya suggested, and she shifted Madeline’s weight on her shoulder in case she needed to start running. “Once we’ve got you somewhere safe, I can loop around and eavesdrop around the village to figure out where the river is.”

Madeline pondered for a second. “With a spot of luck, I should last for a while longer if I don’t bleed out. Infection’s likely given we haven’t even cleaned it, and if we leave the arrow in there for much longer while we’re moving around it’ll probably permanently disable my arm even if we get to safety. If we manage to get everything in order… I probably have two, three days left in me before I’m incapacitated.”

“We’re turning around then; hold on…” Aliya trailed off as she idly turned around. “Oh… no…”

“What is it…?” Madeline asked. Aliya’s fear was palpable, and Madeline was easily affected by it. Her voice wavered. “Is there something wrong?”

Aliya shook her head slowly; not to disagree with Madeline, but at the despair that crept into her. In front of her she saw a crew of raiders that seemed to be moving past attacking a village, and on to its rape and pillage. Behind her, a small horde of the pale soldiers that had attacked them earlier were only a short distance away. Their front line was messy-but-definite, and made up of a group of ghastly spearmen with their weapons up and at the ready. The surprise of seeing they were right behind them before even hearing their approach made Aliya scream in surprise.

“When did they get so close…!?” Aliya croaked, and she gripped Madeline’s arm tightly. She began to nearly drag Madeline forward with how fast she was walking. “I thought we had gotten away from these things!”

Madeline quaked on Aliya’s shoulders. Aliya slowed down and turned to face her, and saw the beginnings of tears in her eyes.

“Damn it all…” Madeline whispered. “Damn all of this.”

“Madeline?”

Madeline put her head to Aliya’s chest and let out a short, pained sigh. She took a deep breath, and then looked Aliya in the eyes.

“Leave me here and run,” she said. Aliya thought she was trying to be confident, but she heard the shaking in Madeline’s voice. “Leave the shaft of your voulge with me. A-at the very least, I can trip one of the damn things up. If those raiders start shooting at them, even better—I can buy you more time.”

“To hell with saving her energy—if she wants to say that to me, I’ll set her straight,” Aliya thought. She looked at her with both confusion and pain on her face. “What are you saying?”

“I’m dead already, Cap—no, Aliya—you can see that,” Madeline explained while gesturing to the arrow in her arm with her head. “That damned thing isn’t fatal—it's far from if I took a hit to my chest or thigh—but there’s no way—“

“Stop. Stop, stop, stop. Just stop,” Aliya growled. Madeline’s mouth closed in a terse line. “I already said that you’d be my first mate for the rest of your life.”

“Aliya, please…” Madeline said sadly. “We don’t have time for this. Look,” Madeline jutted her chin towards the village, “They’re already running out here with their weapons drawn. Once arrows start flying…”

Aliya dropped Madeline, but made sure she wouldn’t land on her wound. Aliya dropped her voulge onto Madeline’s chest, and gave her a grave look.

“Are you agreeing with me now?” Madeline asked. Though there was some smugness in her voice, she sounded as if she had been betrayed at the same time.

She leveled a steely gaze at Aliya. Aliya’s stern silence was all she got back.

Madeline seemed to resign herself to her fate. “I see…” she said slowly. “I’ll gladly lay down my life here for you, Aliya. I always—“

“Mutineers have to get punished,” Aliya interrupted. With a slow, measured movement, Aliya lifted Madeline bridal-style. She groaned under the exertion on her already-tired muscles, and began panting immediately when she started slowly walking.

“W-what are you doing?” Madeline asked as she barely recovered from fumbling Aliya’s voulge.

Aliya smirked. “This is your punishment for not listening to me when I told you to shut it.”

“Punishment?” Madeline said incredulously.

“Oh yes,” Aliya nodded. “We’ll discuss the details later, but for now I need you alive so I can properly make an example of you to our crew.”

Madeline struggled against Aliya. “This isn’t the time for stupid charades and bravado! I already know you and what you can do! I know what you have done!” she shouted. Her words came out between large breaths, and she quickly tired herself as she spoke. “This is beyond stupid; we’re stopped between raiders with bows and whatever in blazes that group of monsters is! We’re here chatting—and I’d say you’re going past that and filling the shoes of some fictional "dashing" captain and flirting!”

Aliya started, but Madeline shushed her.

“You don’t need to take on some sort of character. You’re already one to your crew, and that character is good! We’ve known each other since we were young, and I’ve been your first mate for almost a decade now! I’ve seen you experiment with all those different characters—some worse than others! Now that the odds are that I’m going to bite it, please—for all that’s good in this world—please be as you are with me. I don’t want my last moments to be bitter.”

Again, Aliya was interrupted when several arrows began to fall around them. They fell wide, though a few of them landed a respectably short distance away.

“Maybe the one that shot you is in there,” Aliya suggested, and Madeline’s surprise at the sudden change in subject was evident on her face. “You think if I get you to safety I can repay the favor?”

“You what?” Madeline sputtered before Aliya began a labored jog towards the village. “What are you doing!?”

“I reckon they’d be happier if they had one more body to bash those things with!”

“They’re raiders!” Madeline argued.

“They’ll take coin just like anyone else if that’s the case,” Aliya smiled.

Madeline guffawed. “You’d trust leaving me to them?”

Aliya's face was less than happy. “Oh, I’ll make sure if they really want to kill us they’ll have to take me out first. If they pretend to accept, and while I’m gone they do anything to you—kill you, rape you, use you as live bait for whatever these things are, whatever—I will find them, and spend a fortune on making sure I end them rightly.”

She got no reply for a while, and the arrows continued to fall just short of them. Aliya tried to maintain her composure, but knew that she was beginning to panic. She focused on the village.

“How do you make sure they know that?”

“I’m sure one of them has to have heard of us before, or at least the Leone and her fleet,” Aliya’s smile twisted slightly. “I’m sure that if they know of the fleet, they’ll know how I got if after Father butchered that mercenary guild.”

“And if not…?”

“Well, we’ll take care of it when we get there,” Aliya said half-heartedly. The other half of her silently panicked at the thought of being killed or enslaved by a group of Glamhoth. “As it stands, we can at least trust that there’s a chance that they’ll be more welcoming than expected.”

“You think that those monsters out there can be any less welcoming to the Lavas than the Glamhoth are?”

“I can trust the Glamhoth are human, at the very least,” Aliya said, and she stepped out of the way of an arrow unwittingly. “That was too close…”

She looked back and saw that the group of spearmen were still slowly walking towards them. There was a faint…cackling in the air. Aliya wondered if it was just her thoughts getting ahead of her.

“Your breathing is getting incredibly heavy,” Madeline commented, “You can’t keep this up.”

“Like hell I can’t keep this up,” Aliya spat. “I’ll collapse before I put you down.”

Aliya looked up at the gathering group of soldiers. She took a deep breath, and shouted as loudly as she could, “If you bloody lot could hurry up and get yourselves out here, it would be greatly appreciated!”

Madeline’s eyes widened. “You can’t just go swinging bravado around like that—what did I just tell—“

Her complaining was cut off by a string of dry coughs.

“I’m waking the damn fools up is what I’m doing,” Aliya said lowly. “I’d bet seeing a group of… whatever these things are… is enough to paralyze most regulars—what more a bunch of brigands?”

Her legs screamed for the sweet release of stillness. “Not until we’re dead,” Aliya thought. She grit her teeth and pushed herself harder. She needed to hit her stride. She needed to get Madeline to safety. She needed to survive.

She kept her eyes locked firmly on the soldiers. As much as she hated it, it was their move.